Frozen Oldham

BLEAK outlook . . . a blanket of snow covers Oldham

DRIVERS braved icy conditions to get to work this morning as temperatures plunged to -8.6 (17C) overnight.

Gritters are working round-the-clock as the Arctic weather is set to stay until at least Christmas Eve.

But there have been more thefts from grit bins in the borough.

Councillor John McCann warned: “We are going to be pressing the police for prosecutions. It is unbelievable. People are being quite organised about it. The gritters have been out every night and going through the day. A lot of the secondary roads have been done. The roads are clear — the problem is the temperature.”

Two drivers had lucky escapes when they skidded off the road in separate incidents near to Daisy Nook Country Park.

Hollins firefighters were called after heavy snowfall on Friday night when a motorist saw a minibus crash through a fence in Stannybrook Road.

But they then discovered that a car had also gone off the road at the same spot. No-one was injured.

Watch manager Tony Morgan said: “The occupants of both vehicles were very lucky.

“It was after the snowfall and the road was very slippery. At one stage we were worried our vehicle would get stuck in the snow too.”

A man suffered leg injuries when a Nissan Micra hit the central reservation on the A627M at the Broadway slip-road shortly before 6am today.

First Bus said most of its services were operating as usual with only the 184 unable to reach Diggle because of parked cars on Sam Road.

Brian Hensby, the Highways Agency North-West operations manager said: “With the falling temperatures the grit doesn’t work below -10C, therefore there is a risk of icy patches.”